Rainy Days And Tuesdays Always Get Me Down
by itslikenature
Summary: Kim is worried about Jared because he has missed school but when she drives by his house looking for him something happens to change her life forever. This is written for the TeamSOB “Rain Scene” Challenge.


**Penname: itslikenature  
Title: Rainy Days And Tuesdays (Always Get Me Down)  
Main Character(s): Jared/Kim  
Canon - Mostly  
"The Rain Scene" Challenge  
http://www(.)fanfiction(.)net/~teamsob  
Disclaimer: **

**Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer, no infringement intended by using her characters.**

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**I would like to dedicate this fic to **_**GreyGooseLover **_**who gave me the idea for this story and to **_**pattyofurniture**_** for being an awesome beta and friend. Also, I'm exploring lengthening this story latter. Thanks to everyone who reads it and as you can see it's an entry in the Team SOB "Rain Challenge," so I hope you'll vote for me at the site mentioned above. You can also see my banner for this story on my profile page.**

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Rainy Days And Tuesdays

(Always Get Me Down)

The alarm rang, echoing its blaring tone in my head. I threw my arm out from under the comforter, long enough to turn it off then buried my head under my pillow, "Do I have to get up today?" I mumbled groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, still hiding from the world in my bed.

I tried to reason with myself that going to school was a must and that my friends would miss me if I wasn't there, but the ultra persona that dwelt within me, the one of less confidence, spoke up saying, _"It's not like you're one of the popular girls. Your hair isn't as black, or as long, or as thick as theirs. They are so much prettier than you. The girls like Adsila, Kai, Litonya, or Nayeli who all have beautiful Quileute names, beautiful hair, and who are liked by all the guys. You're just plain old Kim Connweller."_

I sighed and tried to push those negative thoughts out of my mind, forbidding _that_ persona from voicing any more of her opinions. Besides, things would be better if Jared was at school today. I always felt like I could make it through the day, as long as I got to watch him from the corner of my eye during English, science, and math.

When we first got our schedules a few weeks ago, I couldn't believe that I had three classes with him and was even more excited when he chose seats next to me in all three. It didn't matter that he never even looked my way, well it did but I don't think I could ever talk to him, so for now I was perfectly content just being near him.

Today was Tuesday, however, and I had the strangest feeling that he wouldn't be at school again today. He had missed yesterday, which wasn't like him at all.

The floor was cold under my feet when I finally climbed out of bed, so I hurried around getting on my clothes then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair.

I looked for a long time in the vanity mirror, trying to find features, in the face that was looking back at me, that were appealing. My eyes are my best feature, I thought, and smiled at the reflection thinking that they looked even better when they had the reflection of Jared in them. Shaking my head to roust me from my daydream, I went to the kitchen for a bite of breakfast.

My mom had a plate of pancakes waiting and I consumed three in a matter of minutes, before grabbing my backpack and walking toward the front door.

"Mom, thanks for breakfast. Are you staying home today?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder.

"Yes, I am," she replied.

"Then can I drive the car to school?"

"Sure honey, the keys are on the table in the entryway," she called from the kitchen.

I liked it when my mom was home during the week. This not only meant that she would make my breakfast and have a nice home cooked meal waiting when I got home from school, but that I got to drive the family car to school.

It wasn't that big a deal to anyone but me, I mean after all who thinks our sedan is cool or flashy? But I liked the feeling of being somewhat independent.

When I got to school, I parked in the spot furthest from the entrance and climbed out of the car. I looked around, but didn't see Jared's old Pinto anywhere. I didn't know why I should even care. He never even knew I was around for the most part. But, I did care and I wanted to at least get to see him today.

To my great disappointment, however, his seat was empty again when I got into English. I waited, almost holding my breath while the last few seconds ticked by, before the final bell of the morning rang. Then my heart sank and I knew I would have another day without seeing him.

As soon as English was over, I got up and trudged toward my locker down the hall. I was just opening the door when I heard someone call my name. I looked up to see my friend, Lena, coming toward me.

"Hey. Kim. Why the sad look on your pretty little face today?" she said, in a childish voice while pushing her lips out in a pout.

"Shut up, Lena. You know I'm not pretty," I shot back at her.

"Oh, why are you always so hard on yourself? You are pretty through and through and someday some boy at this stupid school is going to realize that you're the prize to keep and sweep you off your feet...."

"Stop with the grand fairytales. So, what's going on with you today?" I said, changing the subject.

"Not much. I just got an assignment in science and have to read about photosynthesis tonight."

"Great, that means I'll probably have to read it too," I replied, putting my book into the locker.

"Any sign of, you know who?" Lena asked, scooting over closer to me so she could whisper.

"Who?" I asked, innocently.

"You know who. Jared"

"No. He wasn't in class again this morning. I'm beginning to think he might be sick."

"Well, I didn't want to say anything because I'm not sure, but this morning when my dad brought me to school, I think I saw him and some other guy coming out of the woods. It sort of looked like him from the road, but he....well....he looked super buff with all these muscles and stuff but this guy was much taller that Jared."

"Why would he be coming out of the woods? Where did you see him, this _guy_? And what makes you think he was '_buff with all these muscles'_?"

"I don't know, but we had just crossed the creek. You know the one that runs behind his house and snakes around the road to my house? They were walking up the hill from the creek. He looked strange, or sad, or something. And I know about him being buff because he was only wearing a pair of old tattered shorts, no shirt, no shoes either."

"What in the world....?" I whispered, more to myself than Lena, as I leaned against my locker door.

"I don't know, but, oh man I've got to go. I'll talk to you at lunch," Lena suddenly called as the warning bell rang.

I pushed off the locker with my shoulder and walked toward my next class. My mind was imagining all sorts of things about Jared, but I kept wondering if he was sick, why would he be walking around half naked in the woods? I'd never known him to skip school before, so I was getting worried.

My next three classes passed by quickly, probably because I wasn't paying much attention and was thinking of every possible reason for what Lena had seen, or thought she had seen today. So when the bell rang for lunch break, I was first at the door so I could go find Lena and see if she knew anything else.

We sat in the corner of the cafeteria, eating sandwiches and chips while I coaxed her into going over every detail for me again.

"I've told you already. The creek, the woods, big, strapping, buff muscles climbing the hill, he looked strange, and he had another guy with him. That's all I remember," she said, sounding frustrated.

"Okay. Okay, you don't have to get mad. I'm just trying to piece this all together."

"Well, if you're that worried, why don't you just go by his house after school, you know, take a detour home or something?"

"I guess......I suppose.....I guess I could," I said, feeling suddenly ill at the thought of me going traipsing around looking for some guy that rarely even looked my way, just so I could make sure he was okay. Why should I even care, I thought?

But the truth was that I did care, probably more than I even wanted to admit, so I began formulating my plan to swing by his place on the way home from school, just to see if there was any sign of him or his _friend_ Lena had seen earlier. I knew if I could at least see him from the road that I would feel better and maybe not be so worried.

When lunch was over, Lena and I walked to our next class, which we had together. The afternoon went by slowly, but I had severe mixed emotions when the final bell rang. I wanted to do what I had planned, but the weaker part of me said to just go home and mope the rest of the day.

Somehow, though I managed to talk myself into carrying out the plan, so I climbed into the car and prepared myself for the detour. I began talking to myself on the way to Jared's road and told myself that I was just in the neighborhood and that no one would know about what I was doing but me.

I had just turned down the long winding blacktopped road that led to Jared's, when the skies opened up and it began pouring, not a good sign, I thought. I had to drive much slower than I had planned, because I could barely see and the roadway was slick.

When I came over the hill, just above Jared's house, I started looking all around, scanning the forest on both sides of the road. I had just looked to my left and was returning my eyes to the roadway, when I saw something dart in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, but it was too late and I hit this massive mound of brown fur.

My heart leaped into my throat and I thought for a moment I was having a heart attack. I just knew that I had killed something, but it was much too large to be a dog. My hands were shaking so badly that I could hardly open the door. When I finally managed and got out, I had to grab the side of the car to steady myself, that's how weak I was.

I stretched up on my tip toes trying to peek over the hood of the car, but I couldn't see anything, then I worried that my car was on top of the poor helpless creature, so I inched forward until I was standing beside the fender.

The rain was still coming down hard and I knew it was cold, but I was too numb to care. I didn't know what exactly was wrong with me, but I knew I had to check on the injured creature and the damage I had to my car.

When I reached the bumper, I saw what appeared to be a massive wolf lying on the ground, partially under the front of my car. I reached down, for some unknown reason, and touched its hind leg. Its beautiful brown fur was wet and looked matted in several spots making me think it was from blood.

Just as my hand sunk into the soft, thick fur and I reached the warmth of its flesh, its leg jerked and I stumbled backwards, slipping on the roadway and fell. My head hit the blacktop and I must have screamed out in pain.

I was rubbing the back of my head when I looked back up and saw the creature limping off in the opposite direction. My heart was aching for the poor animal. I thought I might be going off in the forest to die.

I got up trying to follow it, but I slipped again and fell. That was the last thing I remembered, until I came around a while later lying on a couch in a strange house. I felt a sense of security when I looked around at my surroundings.

It was a nice little cottage type house with pretty decorations everywhere. I grabbed my head and realized that I wasn't alone, sitting at my feet on the couch, was a beautiful Quileute woman with dark black hair. She had her face turned to the side like she was looking at someone across the room. I couldn't take my eyes off of her though, her pretty smile was mesmerizing.

Then she turned her face toward me and I felt so bad for her. I wasn't frightened, but I felt compassion for her. The other side of her beautiful face was scared severely with three deep, red scars that looked like she had been attacked by an animal.

"Hello there. You gave us quite the scare," she said, softly touching my hand with hers.

"I'm....sorry....oh my....I think I killed something," I said, looking down at the floor as I remembered what had happened.

Just then, two, rather large, men stepped into my line of view and I suddenly felt afraid. I couldn't control the shiver that ran from the top of my spine to the bottom, and I involuntarily pulled back against the couch.

The two men stepped closer and the woman looked at me, "Don't be frightened, they just want to make sure you're okay," she said softly.

It seemed that everyone was hovering over me and I didn't know what to expect next, when I heard a voice, a familiar voice, yet a voice that was somewhat deeper than what I had remembered.

"Hey, move back and give the lady some room to breathe. It better be a lady anyway, cause if it's a guy, I'm gonna kill him for hitting me...." then he stopped.

It was Jared. And Lena was right. He had changed. I couldn't help myself as my eyes started at his thighs and worked upward, over his hips, which were exposed due to the low riding tattered shorts he was wearing, up his extremely defined copper abdomen, over the ridges of his muscles until I came to his eyes.

His eyes were like nothing I'd ever seen before. The moment we made eye contact I felt him pulling me to him. It felt wonderful, yet at the same time I was so scared of the way he was making me feel, just by looking at me.

I never broke our eye contact, but I managed to get up and inch toward the door which was still open. When I reached the door, I looked away and heard him say, "It's Kim. Kim, don't leave. I need....."

But I was already outside now. My head was spinning and I had no idea what to do or where to go, but I had to get away from the intense feelings I had when I looked at Jared.

I was walking down the road, looking for my car, when a warm hand reached out to touch me. I spun around and there he was again. The same intense stare, like he was trying to speak to me without opening his mouth.

The rain was coming down in torrents now, and it beaded up and rolled off his beautiful copper skin, like he had rain repellant all over him. I found myself watching as the large round drops of water slid one by one, down and over his chest and abdomen. The trails the drops left behind seemed to evaporate as quickly as they slid down his body.

"Kim. I can't believe it's you. I've always known you were special," he said, thoughtfully.

"What? What did you say, Jared?" I asked, feeling confused and disoriented.

"Kim, let me take you back inside so we can talk," he said, and before I could protest, he had scooped me up into his arms and was carrying me back inside.

I felt like there were sparks dancing on my skin everywhere I touched him and his warmth was soothing to me. I lay my head against his shoulder and rested one hand upon his chest, trying to absorb as much of him as I could.

When he got me back inside, he looked at the others who were still in the same position they had been when I left, almost as if they were frozen or afraid to move.

"Emily, can you get Kim some dry clothes? I have to talk to her and I don't want her getting sick from being wet."

What was he saying? He spoke about me like I was the most important thing in the world. The way he said my name and the way he was holding me, so gently against him made me even more confused. This behavior coming from a guy that rarely ever looked my way was mind boggling.

He carried me through the small house and put me on my feet, in the hallway outside of the bathroom.

"It's okay, Kim. I'll take care of you. Will you change so we can talk?" he asked, and I just nodded my head yes.

The woman he had called Emily, came out of another room and handed me some clothes, so I went inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I found a towel and started drying off and getting out of my wet clothes.

I could hear faint whispers and murmuring coming down the hall and I had a strange feeling that I was the subject of the conversation.

When I got changed and dried off the best I could, I opened the door and Jared came to me immediately. He smiled at me and my heart thumped inside my chest so fast that it took my breath away.

He reached out for my hand and I offered it without even thinking, it just seemed right, like we belonged together. He led me to the living room and sat down on the couch, pulling me gingerly down beside him. We were alone now, the others had disappeared.

"Jared, I don't understand why you are being so nice to me?" I asked, and noticed that my voice was shaking.

"Kim, I've always thought you were such a pretty girl, but I never talked to you because, I.....I never thought you would have anything to do with someone like me. So, I just settled for telling jokes and being the loud mouth guy in the corner, so I could at least see you smile every once in a while."

"But, why? I've always thought you were the sweetest guy, even if you never looked my way," I confessed.

"Oh, I looked your way plenty, you just never saw me."

I started laughing, thinking we had felt the same way, but never let each other know, until now and it took me hitting....I stopped and stood up suddenly.

"Hey. What's wrong?" he said, grabbing my hand.

"I hit a big, um wolf....I have to go see if it's okay," I said, trying to move away from him.

"Kim. It's fine. I know for a fact that the.....um wolf, is fine."

"How can you know that? I saw it limp off into the forest," I said, sounding frantic.

"Kim, it was me you hit," he said, quietly as he stood up beside me.

"No. I hit a big, beautiful furry wolf," I said, feeling light headed again.

But he was there, putting his arm around me and pulling me to his side. Then he moved us back over to the couch and sat down again, but he never let me go.

"Kim, it's a long story, but I'm going to just tell you like it is. I don't want there to be any secrets between us. You see, our ancestors were known as The Protectors and they protected this land and our people from....I know this going to sound like a fable, but it's true. I swear to you this is all true," he said, looking at me in the eyes before continuing, "_The Cold Ones_, also known as _vampires_."

"Jared, are you crazy?" I said, pulling against him trying to break free of his grasp, but he held me carefully and wouldn't let me go.

"Think back Kim. Do you remember the Elders telling the stories around the bonfires when we were little? Think back to the legends your parents talked about when you were a child. It's all true. The things they told us were not just stories. They were historical facts for our people. And I'm now one of The Protectors. I help keep the people of La Push safe and I'll keep you safe too, Kim."

I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth. I not only saw the truth in his eyes and heard it in his voice; I felt it inside of me. That's when I began to relax. There was no need to be frightened, this was as he said and I was somehow now a part of it all now.

"I know you're telling the truth, Jared, but why me? Why are you talking to me like I'm your long lost....."

"Because you are Kim. You're the person—the girl I've been searching for. You are the other part of me, the one person in this whole world that is the missing half of me. You're my imprint and now we belong together," he said, with such sincerity in his expression and voice.

"You want me?" I whispered, almost unable to speak.

"Yes, I want you, but above all I need you."

So this would be the day that my life changed. That everything moved into place and began to align. I had gone searching for Jared, to make sure he was okay, but he found me and now our paths were set on the same course and I knew we would always be together.

I smiled at him through tears of joy, as I felt the last of my doubts roll away. He took my face between his large warm hands and hesitantly moved toward me. He was the most beautiful, and yes I mean _beautiful person, _to me at that moment. As I looked at him, I saw how perfect he was and I too felt complete and whole.

Then, as he bent down and slowly kissed me, offering the sweetest and most gentle kiss I could ever imagine, his energy coursed through me and all I wanted was more. But there would be plenty of time. I wanted to get to know everything about him.

"So you were the wolf that I hit?" I asked, looking at him though dazed from his kiss.

"Yeah, and don't think that I'm ever going to let you live that down. The day you knocked me off my feet," he said, with a hearty laugh that sounded heavenly to my ears.

I felt my cheeks stinging as the blood rushed into them, and I tried to look down at my lap, but he pulled my face back up to meet his.

"So, I guess I felt some sort of connection to you all along then. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to check on you."

"Could be? I'm just glad you came looking and found me. I'd much rather you hit me with your car and gave me the chance to find out in the rain that it was you I've been waiting for, instead of it happening in English."

We both laughed and he put his arm around me, pulling me to my feet.

"Come on. I want you to meet everyone else. This family just got a little bigger," he said, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hello," I said, almost in a whisper.

"Guys, I want you to meet Kim Connweller, she's the one I've been searching for. Huh, but she was there all the time." And I couldn't have been more pleased. I'd have to tell him that he was the man of my dreams too, someday.


End file.
